Part 3: Catch

I furrowed my brows and looked down at the dress I wore—borrowed from Jaehyo. It was a smooth navy dress which ran down just below my knees. My wrists were decorated with silver bangles. The shoes I wore was no higher than 3 inches. Looking back up at my reflection, I shrugged my shoulder and lifted a side smile on my faintly pink lips. Jaehyo had brought over a stylist and gave his reason that he knew I wouldn’t let him take me to a salon. My eyes were painted with a dark blue color and my hair tousled into long curls.
“You look amazingly gorgeous,” Jaehyo smiled at me as I walked out of my room.
“I feel weird,”
He laughed, “Don’t because you look breathtaking,”
“I don’t know,” I placed my right hand onto my left elbow, “this doesn’t feel like me.”
Jaehyo clucked his tongue and walked towards me, “You look amazing,” he extended his arms to touch the sides of my arms, “you should take my compliment because that’s all I’ll be saying to you tonight.”
I smiled and cleared my throat, “We should get going, shouldn’t we?”
“Of course,” Jaehyo nodded and grabbed my left hand.

While in Jaehyo’s car, he sung the whole way there and even forced me to sing along. Of course, the car ride didn’t take longer than 20 minutes to get there. But once we got there, I immediately had a gut-feeling of wanting to go back home. There were so many cars and people there, all crowding before the entrance. I looked at Jaehyo which he smiled at me and shook his head knowing that I was going to make an excuse.
“Don’t worry,” he placed a hand on mine, “Just stick by me,”
I nodded and we both got out of his car. I immediately grabbed his hand and followed him as he led us towards the venue. The closer we got to the building, my gut wrenched nervously. The vibration of music rumbled the smooth ground as we stepped inside the building. I could feel eyes looking right at me, probably wondering who I was and why I was holding onto Jaehyo’s hand. My heart gave a loud thud within my eardrums, deafening the noises of people talking. Every cell in my body began to numb; I halted in step, forcing Jaehyo to stop. He turned to look at me and without saying anything, his arms were wrapped around me.

“I told you not to worry,” he whispered with a small chuckle, “just breathe. You’ll be fine, I promise.”
As much as I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t going to be fine, I decided to not be such a coward and nodded in response. This party was something his parents had planned after all and if I ruined it, I would regret it. I exhaled and slightly pulled from him, “I’m fine now,”
He smiled, “Great; now come on.”

We walked into this large room with people almost overflowing in it. I wasn’t sure where Jaehyo was taking me but I didn’t question it. We navigated through a couple of people, interrupting some conversations so we could cut through. Soon we stopped and stood before Jaehyo’s friends—minus Hana.
Jihoon shook his head, “You’re late,”
“Isn’t this already a routine for him?” Yukwon sighed and took a step forward; he looked at me smiled, “You look really amazing, by the way.” I nodded and gave him a weak smile.
“Has he arrived it?” Jaehyo asked, which got me curious as to who Jaehyo’s step-brother was.
“Not sure,” Jihoon answered, “haven’t seen how the dude looked like so I don’t if he’s here,”
“Your parents are here though,” Yukwon added, “I think they were looking for you,”
“Of course they are,” Jaehyo nodded, “guess I’ll go say hi to them.”
“See you later then,” Yukwon winked.

Jaehyo pulled me to his side, “I hope you’re not nervous about meeting my parents,”
I gulped, “I-I’ll try not to,”
He chuckled, “Don’t worry.”
Within seconds, we found his parents. His father smiled widely as we walked up to him and his wife. I was amazed at the resemblance he had with Jaehyo, then again, they were father-and-son. He placed a hand onto Jaehyo’s shoulder, “Glad you could finally make it,”
Jaehyo nodded and turned to look at me, “Dad, this is my girlfriend.”
The man shifted his gaze from Jaehyo to me and slightly cocked his head to the side, “She’s quite compatible with you.” He commented and widened his smile, “Who may you be?”
I parted my lips and told him my name. After that, he asked me no more and told Jaehyo to go have some fun.
But before we could leave his parent’s side, Jaehyo asked, “Where’s…?”
“He’s mingling around here somewhere,” his father answered and turned to look at me, “have fun, alright?” I nodded.
Jaehyo pulled onto my hand and we were once again walking around the huge room. I wasn’t sure why Jaehyo kept walking from here to there; it didn’t seem like he had a destination in mind. Soon, we were faced again with Jihoon and Yukwon. Jaehyo stood and talked to them while I stood beside and silently looked around. What was I expecting to do here anyways? I sighed and turned back to look at Jaehyo.

“Sorry if you’re bored,” Jaehyo pulled me closer to his side.
I shook my head, “I’m fine,”
He smiled and surprised me with a quick peck, “Good; how about we go dance a bit?” He suggested. I nodded and followed him to the middle of the room. There wasn’t anyone dancing, rather people was just standing around. I furrowed my brows and parted my lips to question his suggestion, but he interrupted me. “It’s okay if it’s just us; no one cares anyways.” He chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist.
I smiled and placed my hands on his shoulders, “I feel a bit silly though; but I guess since it’s with you…”
Jaehyo leaned forward and whispered, “That’s my girl,”
We shuffled our feet in sync for a couple of minutes, oblivious to the people around us. The only ones in this room were only me and Jaehyo, and that’s how it was supposed to be. I smiled and leaned inward to place the side of my face against his chest. I was so happy and comfortable right now. There was nothing I could ask for because I had all that I needed.

Or so I thought. Right before my eyes, I had caught sight of Kyung. His dark hair was tousled and played with; a big fake smile was painted on his face and his eyes curved like the crescent moon as he talked to someone. What was he even doing here? As if he had sense my presence, his eyes flickered to me. Our eyes met for a quick second; but within that second, time seemed to slow. Kyung raised a brow at me and nodded, and waited for my response, instead I turned my head the other way. I was in panic. He saw me. He saw me in the arms of Jaehyo. I stopped moving my feet and looked up at me Jaehyo, which he slightly tilted his head in confusion.
I shook my head, “Nothing,”
“Let’s head over to a table—”

“I haven’t seen you in forever, Jaehyo.” A girl in peach dress was suddenly at Jaehyo’s side.
Jaehyo released an arm from me and turned to look at the girl with a smile, “Hey,”
“Man, we need to catch up!” She almost squealed and took hold of his arm, but before pulling him from me, she turned to look at me, “You don’t mind it that I steal him from you, do you?”
I shook my head and stepped back from Jaehyo, “Friends should go catch up with each other,”
Jaehyo parted his lips to oppose but the girl jerked him to follow her, distancing him from me. I gave him an assuring smile and turned around. Now what was I going to do? Stand here and watch as people mingle with each other? I sighed and forced my legs to move, even though I didn’t know where I was going. Suddenly the lights dimmed and a voice overruled the many conversations in the room.
“Thank you for joining us tonight in celebrating my son’s arrival from studying abroad,” Jaehyo’s father’s spoke loudly into a microphone, “I would like for him to come and say a few words for us.” A couple seconds passed by and no one walked up. I raised a brow and noticed that everyone had the same look. Then someone else had spoken into the mic, but I couldn’t quite see who it was—nor could I really care what the person had to say. I decided that I was going to use the restroom because it felt weird standing here alone. As I walked into a dim-lighted hallway, my arm was grabbed and I was forced to walk the opposite way. I couldn’t refuse nor say anything because I was suddenly outside on a balcony. A person stood before me with his back turned, but still held my arm. Of course, it didn’t take me long to guess who the person was since I’ve seen this back many times.

“Kyung,” my voice trembled at the sound of his name escaping my lips.
He turned around to face me and smiled, “Having fun?”
“What are you doing?”
“Just wanted to get some fresh air,” he simply stated.
“No,” I shook my head, “what are you doing here?”
“What do you think?” He questioned, “I got invited to this bull place.”
“Invited?” I repeated, “Who—”
“I’m friends with the son,” he replied coolly and quickly changed the subject, “you’re dating Jaehyo, huh.” He stated rather than questioned, and smugly laughed to himself, “You moved on quicker than I thought.”
“I’m going inside—”
“Not yet,” Kyung refused and tightened his grip around my arm, “I want you to stay out here with me.”
“Let go,” I spat through gritted teethes. He loosened his grip on my arm and threw his hands up. A smile spread across his face teasingly.
“I see you've really taken a change to how you act around me, huh?” He commented, “It's not very nice, you know?”
“It's what you deserve for doing what you did to me,” I responded, “Why did you really drag me out here?”
 
Kyung sighed and leaned back against a mount, “I couldn't stand to see you give that guy that look,”
“What look?” I questioned.
Kyung turned his to me and raised a brow, finding my question dumb. “That look which shows how happy you are around someone you love.” He explained, “I do very clearly remember you giving me that look every time we were together.”
“Well, we're not together anymore... so why should it matter to you who I look at like that?”
He sighed once more and took a couple of small steps towards me, “It matters because I still love you,”
 
I stiffened at his confession. Unsure what to say next, I stayed quiet and could only stare at him in confusion. Kyung laughed, leaned forward, and almost mockingly smiled at me.
“Are you shocked to hear me say that?” He asked.
“You...” I swallow back; before I could get anything out from my lips, Kyung stood just inches before my face. He breathed, which trickled onto on my cheek, indicating how close he was to me at the moment. I could feel the piercing of his eyes, staring intently at me.
He whispered my name, “Do you still have feelings for me?”
I hesitated to answer his question. Of course I wanted to tell him no, but I knew that I would only be lying to myself. It had taken me months to get this man—who took my first experiences in everything. He was the first person who ever made me feel loved and given me everything I could ever ask for. If I were to fall from the sky, he would be the parachute that would open up and catch me before I could fall. But I would only be flying safely in the sky for a few seconds before the parachute rips and I am falling relentless down. Turning my face away, I took a step back, “I-I'm in love with someone else.”
Kyung inhaled and chuckled, “I know that,” he answered with a nod, “but you must feel some kind of emotion for me, right?” He took another step towards me, “All these months, I've only been thinking of you. You're on my mind 24/7.”
 
“T-Then why did you break it off with me?” I questioned.
“Some things are better left untold,” he answered simply.
“That gives you no reason to leave me and then expect to just come back into my life, Kyung.” I countered, “You don't know how much pain I was in because of you.” I clenched my fist, “but because of you, I am now a different person.”
His lips spoke of nothing but my name as he extended a hand towards me, but I flinched at his action.
“Leave me alone,” I coldly tell him, “I don't need you part of my life anymore.”
“Is that what you wish for?” He asked.
I nodded, “Yes.” The word burned my tongue.
 

author's note; thanks for reading! i know things are speeding up a bit but, eh, I really want to end this fic lol.........